Can you actually build a workable bankroll by playing 2nl?
I've often read threads where newer players mention that they're trying to build a bankroll with either some freeroll winnings or a very small deposit & there's always a bunch of feedback, some negative (ie. 'it's a waste of time, just deposit more & move up to slightly higher buyins, etc. etc.), some positive (yes you can do it, so & so did it, 'or' just play such & such of sng's, etc. etc.).
In the past I have built up a couple of bankrolls from meager initial freeroll cashes, but not always by following sound bankroll management (ie. old DoylesRoom I won $2 in a freeroll, then another $12, played 10nl, then 20nl & a bunch of their 'raked-hand' required freerolls & built it up to over $500). I did something simliar on a couple other sites too.
Alot of the time though I read about players suggesting that the new buy try to do it by playing 2nl tables. This seemed kinda lucicrous to me because I've run plenty of player's names on 2nl tables & I've rarely found any who have actually profitted over $200 & that was some who'd played over 500,000 hands at 2nl (yes.. 500K.. I've even seen some that had played over 1.2mil hands at 2nl... 'bot' anyone?.. sure seems like it..anyways).
Just recently I again won a priv. freeroll on a 'new' site (new to me anyways > 888Poker). I played in some MTT's, doing ok but obviously not rolled very well for them ($10-$33 mtt's.. bankroll is not gonna last long w/o a significant cash).
I then started messing around on some 2nl tables, mostly to just have 'fun' (something that poker hasn't been alot of for me lately.. 'fun'... more of a grind instead). I actually started to have 'fun' on these tables, lol. Times when I didn't feel like or wasn't up to playing something seriously.. or was busy doing other stuff on the puter, open up some 2nl 888Poker tables and start hitting buttons.
Weird stuff started to happen... I was winning at absurdly high winrates (ie.averaging more than 100bb/100 which seemed pretty absurd)...so I played some more... & then a bit more. I've now played ~10,000 hands and still have a winrate of ~100bb/100.
In the meanwhile I again have been reading threads by 2nl players (fairly new players but ones who are keen) & again have read the negative stuff by some saying stuff like > "it's not worth it! You'll never win enough to get a substantial bankroll to play with. Just make a deposit instead!" & > "they play like such droolers at those limits that the variance is insane & you'll just be wasting your time on there!" (< but isn't this what a player wants on cash tables?.. some 'real droolers'? I would think so).
This stuff has gotten me to consider starting up a 'Challenge Thread' (mostly a challenge to myself but also to the 'naysayers' who suggest that 2nl could never be worth it to play). So I haven't fully established the parameters for my challenge.. 'yet' but have come up with a couple of ideas (it's going to be dependant upon whether or not I have enough free time as far as which one I'll be choosing). I'm currently playing between 8-11 tables, at 2nl but for the challenge I'll be bumping this up to 11 for sure.. & more likely 15tables (if I can even get on 15tables as player traffic is lower at 888Poker than on the bigger sites, obviously). I thought about doing a challenge like, "Most $'s won in 25,000 hands @2nl" This way I can stretch it out over a 2wk. period & just play 2hrs. at night, 4days/wk. Pretty sure I can make $300 in 25,000hands (& maybe closer to $500).
I've also thought of this one > Most $'s earned playing 2nl in 1 week! (playing a maximum of 8hrs./day).
Tables on avg. there are 65hands/hr. Also, there's not always a ton of tables running which will make the challenge more difficult (right now there are only 12 2nl tables running, later at night (my time) there are more. Also, to make it more attainable for a newer player to set their sights on, I won't be using a HUD during this challenge. Nothing concrete (yet) and the idea mostly came for me after reading soooo many 2nl & micro thread challenges but also because of a 'play more' bonus thing they have on 888Poker (if you earn 5pts. per day, 2days per week you qualify for a $500 freeroll, 4days gets you a $4,000 freeroll, & 6days gets you enterance to a $10,000 freeroll).
Another goal of mine for 888Poker (as it is for most sites) is to be rolled to play $10-$33 buyin MTT's but didn't really want to make a deposit.. except for the 'min.' deposit for setting up options for withdrawling $'s (there's also some new depositer bonuses.. ie. a freeroll where Top20 win a $75 buyin to their SundayChallenge MTT). There are quite a few $10-20 buyin MTTs that run each day on 888Poker, with softer fields than other sites. There are also some decent DailyChallenge MTT's, ranging in buyin from $12rebuy to $100freezeout. All are quite appealing. Couple of drawbacks though > the tables don't size well with tables from other sites which makes multi-tabling MTTs from multiple sites a bit awkward. A couple other things too but this post is getting too long now, lol.
So, will update here what the parameters will be for this challenge & am pretty sure I will be starting it at 00:00GMT Wed. of this week. (that'd be 4pm Tues. my time). I will have to work this in around my job this week too & also have ~15 mtt's on my schedule (ie. special 'or' priv. ones & usually throw in a few more at the same times... in other words I'll likely be playing upwards of 50mtt's this week as well which will obviously limit the amount of time I can put into this 'challenge'.. which would generally make it even more attainable to the player wanting to build a bankroll from scratch).
Back to the challenge.
I might make it a 5-day challenge. I really will need to take a day off from 2nl on the weekend as I'll have qualified for all of the bonus freerolls & don't want to skip a $10K freeroll to play on 2nl tables.
Will update this tomorrow when I have a more concrete plan & then will update on a daily basis (or close to it).
Wish me luck. I think I'm going to need it, lol.
Brad Booth - > "Like a fight... it's not how you start, it's how you finish"
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Originally Posted by kingmotan
